Untouchable Flame
by Foresaken-Shadow
Summary: SEQUEL TO SEEING YET BLIND. Rogue’s been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what exactly happened to Phoenix. ROMY, JOTT, LORO.
1. Rewritten

**Untouchable Flame **

SEQUEL TO "SEEING YET BLIND"! Wow… I am so enthralled with everyone who read, enjoyed, and reviewed it. Some reviews even made me do a double take on the story line…people discovered things I myself had not even considered! I also changed/added a few things here and there due to the requests/input from my reviewers. My heart goes out to you, and this story will hopefully grow with not only my creativity, but with all of your opinions.

Untouchable Flame…yes… Draw what you can from the title! This is set after my other x-men series, "Seeing Yet Blind." It is advised that that-16 chapter series is read before reading this sequel-series.

**Rating: **T – language, violence, some mild adult themes.

**Pairings:** Rogue/Gambit, Scott/Jean, maybe I'll delve deeper into Logan/Ororo. And of course, there might be some other minor pairs along the way ;)

**Official (complete) Summary:** Phoenix is done with Jean, and done with the X-men. Due to Jean's final, desperate attack to save not only the man she loved, but the entirety of humans and mutants alike, the last thing anyone saw of Phoenix was her dying form fading away on the ground between the humans and mutants during the "war for the cure." Scott has recovered, Jean's body is free of Phoenix, and the "war for the cure" has ended. Rogue's been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what _exactly_ happened to Phoenix.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the X-men franchise in any way. I wish I could be a part of it though! (: That would be spiffy. Oh – this series, along with "Seeing Yet Blind," is meant to take place in the movie-verse, seeing I've read little about the comics. However, what I have added into this series that pertains to the comics (Gambit, for example) I have researched to get at least a basic grip about.

Happy reading!

**1 – Rewritten**

Silence. It had once been deadly in the face of Phoenix. The lethal fire-body within Jean Grey had used, and not to mention, abused Jean Grey's cameo and mutation. Using her body as a mere shell, Phoenix tapped into the woman's memories shortly after taking hold of the woman's unconscious, but living body beneath Alkali Lake; this allowed her to act as Jean Grey would have when rescued. She at first was able to fool even Professor Charles Xavier into thinking that Jean had miraculously survived the crushing force of the lake's water pounding on her body, but after a minor slip of tongue, the Professor had instantly caught on. Things since then had only exploded up and outward.

But this silence…this silence was golden. It was a soft silence; the stillness in the air coupled by gentle, rhythmic breathing. The nightmarish aura the mansion once gave off was now more of a golden glow; with Phoenix being gone and Jean Grey's return, things seemed to relax instantaneously. This was especially the case with Scott Summers. As he lay beside his lover's slumbering body, he draped an arm over her shoulders, pushing her frayed red hair behind her ear, revealing her fair-skinned face. He gave a genuine smile to her; in times past he could have laid eyes upon this exact scenario and he could have very well been staring at a resting Phoenix. However, that age was done and gone. Phoenix had died, attempting to murder the two of them, no less.

So at least one thing had been fixed. Phoenix had been silenced; however there still remained the cure. The "cure" that would permanently rid a being of the power that their mutation had given them. They could be "normal" from this cure. But after being a mutant, what was normal? Was anything normal after being forced into being an outcast among the human population? There was only one place in the whole of the country that was considered normal for them. Xavier's Institute, or more commonly known among humans as the "school for mutants". Here dozens of young mutants came for an alternate, and generally calmer lifestyle: a school just for them, and training programs designed to help them master and control their mutations. The headmaster was basically known as the most powerful mutant around, and was seconded by extraordinary teachers who also assumed the name of X-men while in battle.

Now the topic on teacher and student tongue alike was that of the cure. Should they take it? Should they ignore it? Make it mandatory? Out-law it? Opinions ranged from one extreme to the other. However, for one girl, it hadn't been a choice. During the war the guns had been loaded with either bullets or cure darts, and Rogue had been stricken by half a vial of the cure serum. Now she was flaunting in the ability to touch skin to skin with another being, but not long after she learned her powers had subsided did she start to miss them. Although one would rather say she subconsciously had a fondness for being a mutant. Now she was the only human among a mansion-full of mutants. She was not scorned or pushed away though; Rogue had ran from home and met Logan by chance, and then was escorted to the mansion by Storm and Cyclops, and to this day she hadn't thought once of permanently leaving. She was still being schooled, but even after she was done with her required education, she doubted whether or not she'd want to leave for college.

---

During the night before, the summer air drifted in almost hypnotically through the window that had been barely left ajar. It had merely been an overlooked detail by the teenage girl; she'd had an eventful night with her boyfriend and couldn't care less about what else happened that night. When she'd stumbled sleepily into her room at one in the morning, the window had been open only the slightest bit and the occasional breeze would send shivers through the curtains.

"A little fresh air never killed anyone," she thought absentmindedly as she stripped herself of her attire and slipped into something more comfortable before flopping onto the sheets. Exhaustedly she gave a sigh and squirmed beneath the covers until she eventually settled into the unconscious world of dreaming.

Meanwhile in the outside air, fireflies swept over the gentle caress of the nightly breeze. However, one off-handedly slipped through the glass that opened so slightly into the world inside of Xavier's Institute. Curiously the little insect that gave off a reddish glow floated towards the girl resting in the bed. And after hovering above her figure for what seemed ages, the firefly settled on her chest, only inches above her heart, and seemed to almost look at the girl with a familiarly pensive attitude.

"So…the girl with the poison skin…" the voice was small, light.

Suddenly the firefly sank through the girl's clothing, and then diffused through her skin effortlessly.

"You could be quite helpful…" the female voice purred once the insect had melted into Rogue's body. She sprang awake at the sound of the voice, knowing it, and fearing it.

"Except…what happened to your power? Hit by a cure, maybe…?" the voice mused. "I can fix that with a little…_rewiring_."

Rogue tried to scream as she felt heat searing through her limbs, over her face, and down her spine. Everywhere heat surged just beneath her skin, ripping up what immunity the "mutant-cure" had provided. The massive pain had practically paralyzed her.

---

This particular day had been a rather glum one; it'd been raining all day and the weather had only lessened within the hour. Many students had slept late that day. The rain still dripped slowly outside, but it was more of a sprinkle rather than a full rain. On days like this, Storm liked to let nature thunder and crackle on its own. She could spend hours just watching the sky churn and the rain fall and would never grow bored. This is why she let nature run its course rather than manipulating it to be perfect sunny weather.

Outside, two mutants strode along the stone path leading to the lake neighboring the school. Jean had chosen to go barefoot, letting her feet stride along the rain-drenched walkway. Scott was beside her, his hands in his jacket pockets, similar to Jean whose hands were in her jean pockets. For a long while they just walked in silence, taking in the overcastted scenery. Despite the less-than-great quality of air in New York, a walk over the grounds of the institute was very refreshing; the air was crisp and ripe and held a sense of natural simplicity. And simplicity was exactly as how the outing could be described.

Jean sighed, her chest rising slowly, her ribs stretching against her shirt, and then falling all in one fluid action. One branch hung before her on the crape myrtle-lined path, and Scott reached for it first and moved it from her line of view so she could pass under it without getting slapped by a wet, flowering limb.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"When was the last time we went down here, huh?" he asked, strictly out of curiosity.

"Oh…I don't know…maybe when we were kids?"

"Really?"

"I said I didn't know…" Jean repeated, looking to him.

"Well my memory's as good as yours," he smirked back at her.

They broke through the massive shading trees and into the open air that was still covered by the overcast clouds. Jean's light brown eyes sailed over the rippling lake; the rain still fell lazily. Scott's eyes were up to the cloudy veil above their heads, and he wondered aloud, "Why hasn't Storm gotten on this?" Jean took his hand by nosing her own into his jacket, finding that his palm was rather warm compared to her chilled fingers.

"You know she likes to let nature run its course," Jean mused, her eyes squinting slightly as she looked up against the rain that fell towards the ground below. Within his jacket pocket, his fingers groped around hers, and she instantly felt the warmth transferring into her palm.

"Cold, are we?" he questioned lightly as he looked back towards her.

"Just my hands," she replied, dodging his gaze, much like the shy young girl she once was. Scott still had the ability to make things between them seem brand new, and even more so since Phoenix left and they'd regained their regular lives. After being mentally separated from each other for so many months, the two only assumed that the feelings of yearning and paranoia about each other's safety were natural. Within the pocket, his fingers ran between hers, and it if was possible, their hands winding together could be compared to their fingers kissing.

"Well, Mr. Summers," Jean began, her hand still in his jacket, "seems you are being a little clingy, huh?" He smiled in return, trying to decipher her exact motives. Her eyelashes swept over her eyes rather seductively, and she pulled him closer by just her hand tugging on his, and then with her lips mere inches from his ear, she whispered, "Just like old times, huh?"

Before he even managed a grin, she'd pushed him onto the wet, curling grass, but cushioned his fall with her telekinetic abilities enough to ensure his safety. Mentally she whispered to him, 'That was an accident, _of course_,' and he laughed at her. He withdrew his hand from his jacket pocket, however he did not unwind his fingers from hers. His free hand fell to her waist, and she playfully squirmed away from his touch, pulling to his side and causing him to turn over; his arms falling on either side of her propping himself up. His eyebrows jumped for a mere second, enticing her to make the next move. "Scott…you got me wet!" she cried, her back soaked from the rain-laden grass. She shoved back on his shoulder so that it again toppled him over so he flopped back into the grass.

"You were only asking for it," he replied. She then gave him a quick kiss on his lips before looking over her shoulder. She was sitting, her legs draped to her side, and he lied on the grass, his knees drawn up slightly, and he held one of her arms at her elbow.

She drew away and stumbled to her legs as she breathed, "Catch me if you can…"

"Hey --!" Scott cried after her, finding it very hard to hide his grin. _Just like old times_, he thought, _just like old times._ He jumped to his feet, but Jean had already tore down the stone path. As her footfalls fell on the stone, the varying crape myrtle petals clung to the bottoms of her wet feet. The rain fell slightly harder, her hair started to cling to her face when Scott all of a sudden came out of no where. He caught her arm and whirled her around, almost a little too quickly in fact; the two slammed up against the frail trunk of one of the trees, or rather Jean's back ran against it.

The child inside of her was getting the better of her. At first her chest rose and fell quickly due to her running, but when she met his gaze, she blinked away and sighed anxiously.

"Jean…"

She looked down and smiled, her symmetrical white teeth showing beneath her lips. He still had his fingers around her forearm; both arms were between herself and Scott, while her wrists were level with her shoulders.

"You're acting like a kid…" he smirked.

"I don't know…but having a psychotic entity inside your body might have some effect on you…" Jean mused. Then, as if she was on a first date, she hesitantly and gingerly placed her hands at the base of his neck, where his shoulders met his throat.

He drew in an unexpected breath as the two inched closer. "Your hands _are_ cold," he breathed.

"I told you," she chuckled.

He cut her off before she could continue, sealing her lips with his own. Her hands seemed to naturally inch higher, her thumbs brushing the edges of his jaws. The two drew closer still, and their kisses deepened. For the first time in a long while their mental connection sparked to life, but suddenly Jean felt as if she was fighting back a scream that lodged itself into her throat.

Scott received an off-handed shock in the back of his mind, and then pulled away while breathlessly asking, "What…what's wrong?"

Her eyes were wild, and she shook her head as if she couldn't understand. Her hands drew tight to her own body as her chest heaved. "No….no," she whispered.

"Jean…?" the panic in his voice was obvious.

"We have to go back…" she cried, looking back towards the mansion.

"Jean! Tell me what the hell's wrong…" he grabbed her shoulders. This had happened before at Alkali, except she'd skipped the whole kissing/talking-scenario.

"Something terrible's happening back at the mansion…" Their eyes met, and instantly it became clear what she was talking about. They bolted off for the school, hoping and praying Jean was wrong.

---

When she'd woke that morning she felt as if one million ants were burrowing through her skin. And without warning the tingling from the "burrowing" turned into horrible, horrible pain; racing through her blood, her limbs, and then centering in her skull. She moaned quietly as her teeth gritted together. The pain was so foreign. Was her mutation coming back? And if so, _already_?

There was a knock on the door. It sounded ear-shattering as it split the silent air within the vicinity of the room. "Cherie?" a familiar voice came from behind the unlocked door. "You okay?" he asked. However, when he continued to hear her whimper in pain, he forced his way into the room.

"Remy…" she pleaded desperately. Her eyes were a vibrant shade of red, pulsing over her naturally brown eyes. She was curled up with her knees to her chest and her hands on her head when she finally went lax. He went to her side within the next heartbeat, and his hand fell on her shoulder. She then released the roots of her hair and simply let her arms fall outward over her knees. This action caused her hair to fall back around her face, much as a dark veil streaked twice with white.

"Cherie?" he questioned again, softer.

She whipped around, her hair flying about, revealing her spiteful glare. Her nails dug into his wrist, drawing blood with ease. He winced, but didn't pull away. "Morning, Remy," she smiled devilishly, pulling herself to the edge of the bed. He still stood beside the mattress, and as he began to speak again, she put a finger to his lips and whispered, "I'm hungry…questions later." And with that, she met his lips and kissed him rather seductively, her eyes pulsing red a final time before keeping the lethal color in check.

Remy smiled into her lips, but the smile soon faded as he felt his limbs grow still. The air was getting caught in his throat as he desperately attempted to cry out; but Rogue would not withdraw. Her mutation was in full swing once again, and she was silently killing Remy, whether or not she knew it.

"Hungry…" she repeated, breaking from him, "for your damn mutation." She then pushed the man away, and he dropped like a dead weight to the floor. After he fell still and she could clearly make out the faint rasping breath caught in his throat, Rogue helped herself off of the bed and bent over Gambit, swiftly drawing his deck of cards within his jacket. "Thanks, hon," she smirked, walking out the door without a second glance at the man.

Once outside the door, Rogue stopped, eyed the deck of cards, and then while arching an eyebrow, mused, "Rogue…the new the new and improved version."

---

Jean and Scott drew closer to the mansion, and a crash was heard from even a half dozen feet away. Scott looked to Jean, and then she sighed and ripped the door open with her mind. The two slipped inside, and another explosive crash was heard, coming from the kitchen.

"What the hell…?" Scott breathed.

Jean put a finger to her lips, and then edged closer to the massive archway-entrance to the breakfast nook. Dishes had shattered on the dark tile floor, spraying glass every-which-way. There was a horrible dark aura circling the room, and as Jean continued to trace the path of the shattered dishes, she found minor traces of crimson blood, and then her eyes narrowed in confusion when she laid eyes on Rogue's figure.

"Rogue?" Jean called calmly, taking a reluctant step towards the clearly stressed girl.

Rogue's head snapped to the direction of the new voice. Once her eyes connected with Jean's her expression turned from murderous to venomous. Her eyes were a gut-wrenching shade of red, and seemed to tear through Jean with no hesitation. "Hello, Jean," she replied, surprisingly calm.

Jean's eyes grew wider.

"Long time, no see…?" Rogue pressed.

Jean ricocheted backwards, but Scott caught her around the middle before she could lose her balance. She held to him with a death grip with one hand, and the other hand fell to her chest, where she could feel her heart thudding erratically. _Just like when I'd nearly been murdered,_ she thought.

Rogue spontaneously drew two cards and threw them at the couple much like if they were just miniature, rectangle Frisbees. With a gun-shot bang they exploded before the pair, sending them hurtling backwards. Jean's skull connected with the stairwell before she fell to the hardwood floor with a sickening thud. Scott could hear the whoosh of her breath leaving her as he skidded along the floor, his arms burning against the polished wood. He finally came to a stop about half a dozen feet away from Jean, who herself was half a dozen feet from Rogue.

_I must of missed something,_ Scott thought angrily.

Rogue slinked forward and cried rather innocently, "Oh no…what have I done? Poor Ms. Grey…" Rogue then knelt beside Jean's limp body that was crumpled rather awkwardly beside the stairs. The girl then chuckled vilely as she placed a light hand on Jean's forehead. Upon the touch, the younger girl could feel the telepathic power flooding into her instantly, all because of a simple skin-on-skin touch. Scott gawked at her; partly enraged, partly hurt, but mostly out of betrayal. Rogue was one of the X-men, and here she was directly using her mutation on the woman he loved. He struggled to regain his footing, but Rogue was two steps ahead of him.

When she'd withdrawn from Jean, the red head had been left on the floor looking ghastly-pale and now sported raspy breath. Her eyelids seemed to flutter, but would never fully open. Rogue however, strode sharply towards Scott, and without even lifting a finger, managed to throw Scott the remaining distance down the hallway, or at least until he collided forcefully against the next wall. He managed to push himself from the floor with stiff limbs, and then gasped, "Why?"

"Well you would know all about long time, no _see!_" she barked, throwing her hand out and almost literally ripping the ruby glasses away from the man's face. He nearly sent the beams firing off merely because he wasn't expecting the action, but snapped his eyes shut and turned his head away in subliminal fear. He'd always felt extremely vulnerable without the glasses, even if it mean he was more powerful. No, Scott had always cared too much to release the blast at full power.

"But _you_ don't have to _see_ _me_ to know who I am, Summers."

That was not Rogue's voice. But she was right; he knew exactly who it was.

"But you died…they said they saw you dead," Scott growled.

"_You_ know that sight it a precious gift…some people abuse it by letting their idiotic minds get ahead of them," she snarled.

"I don't understand then…"

"I could say the same for you," she spat. "But you, you of all people should know…_the Phoenix never dies_."


	2. Subliminal Attack

**Untouchable Flame **

So I went and bought Shakira's "Oral Fixation vol.2" today…and there's some good music on that cd! I suggest putting "Animal City" on repeat while reading this chapter…it was good inspiration. As for the chapter, we will be seeing the X-men holding an urgent meeting. Is Phoenix really back? Otherwise why was Rogue acting that way? And as night falls and the light grows darker, so do Rogue's plans… **PLEASE NOTE** – After re-reading the chapter, I will be changing the rating from T to M. This chapter delves deep into what I would almost say is that of the horror genre.

**Rating: **M (16+) – language, heavy violence, some mild adult themes.

**Pairings:** Rogue/Gambit, Scott/Jean, and Logan/Ororo. And of course, there might be some other minor pairs along the way ;)

**Official (complete) Summary:** Phoenix is done with Jean, and done with the X-men. Due to Jean's final, desperate attack to save not only the man she loved, but the entirety of humans and mutants alike, the last thing anyone saw of Phoenix was her dying form fading away on the ground between the humans and mutants during the "war for the cure." Scott has recovered, Jean's body is free of Phoenix, and the "war for the cure" has ended. Rogue's been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what _exactly_ happened to Phoenix.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the X-men franchise in any way. I wish I could be a part of it though! (: That would be spiffy. Oh – this series, along with "Seeing Yet Blind," is meant to take place in the movie-verse, seeing I've read little about the comics. However, what I have added into this series that pertains to the comics (Gambit, for example) I have researched to get at least a basic grip about. Also, Untouchable Flame is set after my other x-men series, "Seeing Yet Blind." It is advised that that-16 chapter series is read before reading this sequel-series.

* * *

**2 – Subliminal Attack**

After the continuous crashing echoing from downstairs, Storm raced down the darkening hallways. The storm _outside_ was kicking up wind, and the clouds were ramming into one and other as thunder cracked overhead. She skidded sharply around the corner and found three figures: Scott, Jean and Rogue's. Her eyes widened in slight suspicion as she took in the lunacy of the setting around her: Jean crumpled beside the stairs, Scott wincing and clasping at his shoulder as he forced himself back onto his feet, and Rogue set before it all, her eyes relaying her horrific expression.

"What happened?" Storm questioned desperately as she aided the blinded Scott to his feet. His glasses had clattered to the ground several feet away only seconds before she'd rounded the corner.

"Phoenix is back," he hissed spitefully through the searing pain in his shoulder. After impact with the wall, he'd figured he'd broken something, but the pain hadn't come into play until he tried to get up again. Lucky him; he'd hit his right shoulder.

Storm's mouth fell open slightly while her brow knitted together simultaneously. She shook her head as she replied, "We saw her die…"

"Rogue…! I don't know how the hell it happened…but she's back and _in Rogue's body_, no less," he snarled quietly. His eyes were still clamped tightly shut, and he whispered, "Get my glasses, will you?"

Storm nodded and as she strode in Rogue's direction the girl's body was still trembling like the leaves on the trees outside. Her eyes now shone through as the natural brown, and as she looked to Storm, she found her breath faltering. "I…I didn't…" she begged, edging away further. Post-traumatic shock, some could say. Storm's eyes never left Rogue; she was unsure if she could believe what she was told, Scott had been blinded after all, but again she never doubted his word in the past. After slowly back-stepping to the man, she pried open his fisted hand, and then placed his glasses within his fingers. Only when he had gotten them completely back on did he dare to open his lethal eyes.

"Check on Jean…" he breathed, but Storm cut him off.

"_You_ check on Jean. I'm getting the Professor…he has to know about this… Head down to the infirmary after you get things sorted out… Bring them _both."_

"As if Phoenix is going to listen to _me_," he breathed.

"Fine…" Ororo sighed. "Rogue, can you come with me?"

The girl still looked confused and displaced. However she nodded and silently followed the weather-woman down the hall.

---

The older X-men had grouped in one of the two infirmary rooms. As it turned out, Jean didn't suffer _too _much damage from the collision, and Scott's shoulder was just rather nastily bruised. In the other room, Rogue sat on one of the beds with her knees drawn up to her chest. Within moments of being locked in the room, her eyes pulsed red again, and she scowled at the door. "Idiots," she breathed. "All of them."

"Professor…I don't understand how this could happen," Storm interjected. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was shaking her head.

"She was only dead, ya'know," Logan added.

Jean had no comment; her head ached horribly due to the minor concussion she'd suffered just moments ago. Every few moments she'd reach back for her head and her fingers would hardly graze her scalp before she winced.

"Perhaps it is another one of her tricks, Ororo," Charles replied. "She managed to keep Jean alive beneath the lake and keep her body intact while she lit herself on fire."

"Well then _why_ is she back? And why here?" Storm objected.

"She can use Rogue's mutation to her advantage," Jean stated bluntly.

"But Rogue told me she was hit by the cure…do you think Phoenix went and managed to change that?" Logan added.

"She took Jean's mutation," Scott replied, "she also threw..cards at us? Isn't that Gambit's mutation – the have the cards explode? She threw a couple at us and they exploded in our faces."

"Then I would assume she would have had to of dismantled the cure's effects within Rogue's body. However, the real question is how she managed to get into Rogue's body…" Charles mused.

"She probably just diffused through her skin," Jean stated, "when it wasn't lethal. If she'd of had the mutation then, then she could have just touched Phoenix and killed her that way."

"Well I still don't understand why she's here…why not just run back to Magneto? Why not reactivate his mutation and start up their army again?" Storm added, anger rising in her voice.

"I think she's more here out of revenge, Ororo," Charles chuckled.

Logan scoffed, "Ahh…she's back to finish the job, huh? Just because you two didn't kick the bucket." Scott's arms crossed over his chest and he glared at Logan.

"Just to kill them again?" Ororo objected. "Well why not us just get rid of her?"

"We can't just kill the girl, 'Ro," Logan barked back.

"I forced Phoenix out due to sheer willpower… I don't think Rogue's got enough behind her to be motivated enough to do that… Nor do I believe she's strong enough," Jean added quietly, "How we're going to get her out…I have no idea."

"Well the easiest way to get Phoenix _out_ would be to kill the host, thus forcing her out. Phoenix's power does not draw from fire, or water or an element such as that. No… Phoenix draws her power from life and the energy of life itself," Charles explained, looking to Scott at the last few words. The man shifted at the energy comment, but the Professor continued, "To 'kill' Phoenix would be to kill the energy of life itself. This is why she is so tricky…" He sighed and added, "However…if Rogue was murdered, Phoenix could manage to either escape at the last minute, or she could even use the energy from Rogue's mutation to bring the body back to life. This is very similar to what happened to you, Jean." She looked up, acknowledging the mission at the base at Alkali. "However, if Rogue was to die of age or sickness, Phoenix would die with her if she did not retreat from the body before death. Other ways to kill Phoenix…I'm not sure of. Ways to destroy her without harming Rogue in the process? I don't think there are many legit options there."

"And as for honing in on Rogue…?" Scott pressed.

Jean replied for this one, "Phoenix has made it to where Rogue can retain the mutation now…or at least while she's inside her body. So that means that she's yet again become the ultamite mutant… By touching another mutant she could not only kill them, but she now holds the power received for good."

"How do you know this, Jean?" the Professor questioned; he had already assumed this was true, but he wanted to hear her explanation for it.

"I just spoke to her…and it's been an hour," Jean stated matter-of-factly. Silence followed her statement, and they all stared at her for a moment.

"Are you sure, Jean?" Scott stammered.

"Never been more certain," she replied, "and it's Phoenix speaking back…_not _Rogue."

Charles was the one to break the uneasy silence this time, "How about the four of you return to your schedules…I will speak to her alone."

"Are you sure?" Jean asked, her worry for the elder man quickly soaring.

He held up a hand and smiled warmly as he reassured them, "I will be fine…if not, I will call for you all."

And with that, the four bid him good luck and exited; first Scott and Jean, followed by Logan, while Ororo stayed behind and hesitated. Logan turned in the door way and called, "You comin'?"

She exhaled quickly and blinked forcibly as if she'd drifted off. She then looked over her shoulder as Charles wheeled himself into the solitary room connected to the main room of the infirmary. "Yeah…" she sighed, rubbing her forehead with the heel of her hand, "I'm just leery of Phoenix…"

"Come on…" Logan motioned over his shoulder as he held the door for the weather-witch. "Chuck'll be fine. _You_, however, I worry about," he smirked. She shook her head and then joined him as they exited the room behind Jean and Scott.

---

The conversation with Charles Xavier had been rather foul. Phoenix had acted out Rogue, and even managed to disguise the glaring red eyes for quite sometime, but he still saw through her. He also spoke to her mentally, which seemed very foreign despite the fact she'd been within Jean's body when the woman had done such a thing herself. Eventually after being interrogated for a good ten minutes, she grew bored and let her fury seep out.

"I'm here because _they're_ here," she continued to say. Whenever she didn't want to respond to a question that was the answer she threw out. Of course she was referring to Scott and Jean, who had survived just as she had.

Xavier decided ruefully to leave Rogue locked in the isolation room overnight, hoping that it would somehow make her come to her senses so the two could come to a reasonable conclusion regarding Rogue's sake.

So now the night had fallen, and the air was dreadfully still within the mansion's walls. Phoenix-Rogue still sat atop the hospital bed, her legs crossed and her back straight. Her corneas were an alarming shade of red initially, but she blinked slowly, and tested Jean's powers within her own. She stared menacingly at the silver wall before her, concentrating as she stretched her psychic hold out over the entirety of the mansion. At this point, her eyes had dyed a bone-chilling shade of crimson, and now it was the entirety of her eye that was covered by the deepening shade, rather than just the cornea alone. Ever so gently she tapped into the hundreds of thoughts and dreams that floated under her silent veil, and found not one being awake in the entirety of the mansion. "Wonderful," she sighed; her shoulders relaxing back as her chest sank.

---

When Ororo Munroe awoke, she found herself fighting to just regain consciousness. _Where am I? Why am I here…? How? _She thought bleakly as she swam in fogged memories. Her vision was horribly blurry, and for a moment she wondered if she'd been drugged and possibly taken hostage. Her dark eyes fell closed miserably again, and she felt she should have been more concerned. She was in a foreign room, a room that smelled distinctly of antiseptics and chemicals. Was she in a hospital? After wallowing in her unfazed confusion, she started to snap.

She _was_ in a hospital.

The lights were dim, and there were no windows in the room, except for the one on the door that stood opposite her. Her breath started to catch in her throat as she felt a slight hyperventilation coming on. Hospitals, doctors, and the like all frightened Ororo. She hated being caged in the sterile rooms that smelled oh-so-horrifyingly clean. She'd especially feared it lately, with the cure going around and all.

Ororo then tried to push herself off the bed that leaned down in the direction of her feet at a 45 degree angle. She gave panicky gasp as she realized she was being confined by something. A harness maybe? No matter, the bounds held her chest and arms down, and were also around her ankles. She felt as if she was being pulled in a hundred different directions, and all the while her breath grew thinner. "Get me out…" she breathed, her eyes dilating in fear "Get…me out of here…" she choked again. As she began to struggle, she felt an agonizing pressure in her left arm. When she glimpsed at the general source of the pain, her breath came up short just as her whimpers turned to screams. A needle had been lodged in her arm and was taped down to prevent removal.

It's amazing how when in panic or fear, one suddenly develops marvelous strength. Ororo's arms broke the restraints on her arms, and she claws at the injection, ripping it carelessly from her skin. However, as she had painfully extracted the needle, she noticed a band on her right wrist.

_Ororo "Storm" Munroe. Weather Manipulator. Mutant X102._ She gave a choked whimper as tears welled in her eyes.

Suddenly the door slammed inward with a bang, and Logan stood in its wake, his chest heaving and his eyebrows stitched together. He was angrier than Ororo had ever seen him. Her eyes darted between him and the open door, and then she gawked at Logan's hands. His knuckles were particularly white-skinned, but that was barely mentionable compared to the numerous bloodstains laced around his fingers.

"You…they got y-you?" she stammered with her heart hammering. She could clearly make out the gashes where his claws normally shot from.

"They got all of us," Logan snarled.

"Jean and Scott too?" Scott staggered into view after her question. However, his eyes were still closed. "Then why--" She began, motioning to the man.

"Cyke's blind."

Her expression instantly turned to that of penitence. They say you can't miss something you've never had, and Scott had hardly ever had normal vision. Now he had no sight at all. Tears streaked her skin. She had never felt such a sudden strong compassion for her mutation and these people whom she'd called her closest friends.

"How…? Shouldn't a cure just of taken back the blast?" she choked.

"The damn doctors thought it'd be great to try to 'fix' my eyes after the cure. The damn _scum of the earth_ doctors," he breathed. His eyes then finally swept open, and he seemed to almost stare directly at Ororo. After a year of having the mutation and having to live with eyes closed when he was a child had trained his senses greatly. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue, even in the dim lighting.

Logan and Scott then went to her side, and the two fiddled with the restraints. Surprisingly Scott was doing a rather quick job; he almost matching Logan's speed even without sight. Once they'd torn the harness off of her, she looked to Logan, while tears were shimmering on her dark skin. Scott was looking down, his own eyes closed. She could tell he too was fighting tears, and Storm touched his arm, and then brought it to her shoulder. Meanwhile she hugged Logan's massive figure, which was now mortal. The two men were the only ones in this hell-hole hospital, and there was no telling if three previously-mutated beings, one now blind, would be able to escape. Suddenly she questioned, "Where's Jean?"

But again, as if her voice was the command, Jean hesitantly entered the room, almost expecting to come across workers that would tie her up again. This place was ready to kill the four of them, and they had no way to get out, unless they fought physically. Talk about Animal City.

"Scott…?" she breathed. She had straight away noticed his glasses were gone when she'd seen him. He hardly looked up at her voice, but when he did look towards her, his eyes weren't looking directly at her. "Scott?" she asked again, more panicked.

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but the breath behind the words wouldn't come. Scott sighed and his jaw tightened; he was back to square one. He couldn't see her and missed her terribly already, despite the fact she was drawing closer to him by the second. She threw her arms around him; she too found it hard to contain her fears and not to mention the tears in her brown eyes. He breathed in her scent, and again he was reminded of the new fact of his blind-ness.

"Where are your glasses? And…the blast…?" she breathed, taking his head in her hands. His eyes shone in a bitter-sweet fashion.

"We were all tagged with cures Jean," Logan growled, helping Ororo from the angled bed.

Her mouth fell open too. "Then you can see…"

"And that's where you're wrong," Scott whispered. His eyes narrowed as he continued, "They _off-handedly_ blinded me in an effort to make my eyes _better_."

Her face revealed a misplaced shock. "No…not you…" she whimpered.

The door then exploded open again; countless numbers of men in white suits blocked the only exit with handguns drawn. Scott grimaced and instinctively drew Jean closer to him, while Logan's embrace on Ororo pulled her tighter as well. This was how it was going to end: Four cured mutants, one bleeding (potentially to his death), one blind, and all facing far too many bullets to stop.

---

Logan's breath was heavy. His claws shone with bright crimson blood, and various splotches of red stained the form-fitting black suit he sported. Storm was a dozen feet away from him, her arms out-stretched as a precaution. Lightning sizzled in the sky, and thunder clapped as frequently as an audience would.

_Why's she wear a cape?_ He thought bitterly. _Capes are stupid._ He snarled at her, and then growled, "Make you're move, 'Ro."

"Logan…this isn't you…you're letting it control you," the white haired woman pleaded with him. Her face was still unbreakably stern, but he would crack that perfect fight stature before long.

"Letting what control me? You? The damn _X-men_? I mean…" he chuckled, "…what are you trying to gain here, 'Ro?" He flexed his fingers; he was itching for bloodshed.

Her face softened in remorse, "Logan…there are people who love and care about you here… Don't give into that lust," her arms fell back slightly.

_What the hell is going on…?_ He questioned his mind. The reply he received: _You're taking the dive._ It was a menacing, feral voice in his head. His…double-personality, if you will. The lethal, feral, unstoppable instinct version of himself that rose during bloodlust. Logan had always been able to fight back the animal within, but this time it was impossible to go against it's word.

_She doesn't deserve this!_ Logan snarled.

_I think she does. She chose to go against us._

_Us?_ Logan questioned.

_Of course…it's a team effort!_ It snarled back.

He wasn't able to put in another word before his body leapt at the weather-witch, throwing her down to the ground and knocking the wind from her chest. She groaned quietly as she was pinned to the ground.

"Now let's make this worth-while…" he breathed; his claws lengthened further, if possible. And suddenly Storm had six gleaming, blood-coated daggers through her stomach. She attempted a scream, but it came out as a weak cry of pain. Tears ran on either side of her face as she groped at the man's massive hand that still had it's claws plunged into her skin.

"Logan…please…" she rasped. The lightning shattered through the clouds, and the thunder turned even more rebellious.

The feral instinct withdrew from his mind. Logan found that he, himself, was crouching over the woman's body, with _his _adamantium claws going completely through her body. His face melted into one that was horror-stricken, and his claws retracted automatically with a sharp ripping sound. He tried to find the words…_any words at all_ to explain what had happened. Storm tried to find breath to keep her alive.

He edged away from her, looking stunned as he saw the amount of blood on his suit. And despite the black tone of the leather, the red shone through faultlessly. "She's…she's dead. And…I killed her…"

_And you enjoyed it, no?_ The voice rang out.

He snarled in response, feeling that his throat was burning with guilt.

_There's no way to go back, Logan. She might have once said you were half animal, half man… But no… You are an animal. Fight to survive._

---

The memories flashed across his mind. God; they'd had some close scrapes. Liberty Island: Magneto and held them mere inches apart and took his visor without a second thought. Alkali: he'd been "relearned" as Styker put it, and set him out against Jean. If not for her barrier, she'd have been dead. That time had been the first time he'd used the visor at its maximum strength while on the field. And it had been against the one person he'd _sworn_ to never harm. How did that work for irony?

But in this instance, much like the instances before, he was being held against his will. His arms and legs were being held by something…restraints of chain or heavy leather, maybe? His vision was incredibly hazy; he swore he was blinking, but there was no color, no hint of red and maroon when he thought he was opening his eyes.

_What's wrong…? _He thought sluggishly. _Am I blind?_

"No," a voice replied sharply beside him. He edged away from where he presumed the source would be.

"You _again?_" he breathed.

Phoenix drew closer to Scott, so close in fact, that her breath tickled his ear, "Open your eyes."

"I-I just was?" he stated, confused.

"Idiot," she snarled. He was wearing the glasses at the time, and he barely managed to get a glimpse of the woman as her hand snapped out over his face and levitated the glasses away. His eyes instantly flew shut. "_Open them_," she growled, punctuating the first word rather dramatically.

"And for what reason would I?" he replied curtly.

"I'm not one to _mess with_, Summers. I thought you would have learned that by now," Phoenix snarled. "So open up, or I'll do it for you."

He didn't budge.

"Summers, this is life and death here."

"Meaning I'll kill someone if I open my eyes, and if I don't they'll live, right?" he smirked sarcastically.

"Precisely," she hissed, throwing her open palm towards his head, and his eyelids were wrenched open. However, she also held the optic blast for a few seconds as her eyes pulsed a deep maroon. "I want you to see the life _leave her eyes_…"

His own eyes darted frantically. Everything was red, but the blast was inching along; Phoenix was losing grip on the energy. Scott's gaze then settled on an alarming image: Jean bound and gagged, tied much as if she'd been kidnapped and was now being held hostage. His mind snapped at that exact moment, when Jean's eyes were wide with fear, and begging for an escape.

Phoenix released the hold over the beam, and Jean's scream echoed like glass shattering; dozens upon dozens of sparkling shards all colliding with a hardwood floor. The noise never seemed to end.

---

"Stop it…" she whispered through gritted teeth. Her eyes fluttered closed, tears clinging to the elongated eyelashes that swept over her shimmering eyes.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" the feminine voice purred.

She turned her head away and her eyes fell closed. However, the horrific images would not subside even with eyes closed.

"Your two lovers pitted against each other…? To see who was the better…?" the woman continued, prying into Jean's last sane nerve. The two men were being tortured. Or more like Logan was torturing Scott to no end.

"You knew this would happen," Jean choked feebly. "Everyone knows that Logan would win this fight. _He's got the goddamn regeneration_."

"We can save him, then," Phoenix offered.

She bit her lip. She wouldn't be forced to offer her body up as a home for the diabolical woman. Not again. Not even at Scott's death as the bribe. However, a feral snarl came from below and Jean weakly stifled a cry. Logan had figured out a way to block Scott's optic blast, and without that, all that was left to him was sheer muscle. However, that was next to nothing against Logan-the man made of steel bones. Scott was being forced to retreat while Logan made false swipes at him left and right, laughing demonically when he managed to clip flesh.

_You can't fight him as a human would. You have to reason with him as an instinctual being would._ Jean thought. However, for some reason unknown, her powers had been shut off. She herself felt chained. She couldn't escape the fight below, she couldn't even push it from her mind. She couldn't cry out for help, she couldn't run. She was stuck here by her own will.

"You can't have everything you want," the woman beside her stated, death laced in her seemingly honest tone.

"I want Scott to survive me if it comes down to that," she quietly snapped.

"You want _freedom_. You want _two men_ you cannot have," Phoenix retorted. However, she was still awaiting the initial answer from Jean. She quickly grew impatient, and rose as she called, "Kill him."

"No-! Wait…" Jean cried, tears lining her eyelids. It would be one fear or the other, but not both. She would not suffer like this. "Take me. Take my body and let him live," she practically growled as she came to a full standing height.

"Good choice, Jeannie," Phoenix purred, as she literally stepped into Jean's body, pushing her will away. And as it had in the days long gone, her body lit aflame as Phoenix so like to do, and she smirked as she stated, "Logan, be a dear."

Jean screamed within her mind. She was slowly losing control, losing her willpower. Phoenix fed hungrily on her fear and misery.

"I never swore to anything, Jeannie," Phoenix chuckled. The fight exploded from then on out. Logan threw Scott to the ground, and then heaved his body back up, by his neck first. Logan gave a beckoning roar; a low roar, and then smirked malevolently. He plunged his claws deep within the man's flesh over his chest cavity, and angled the claws further downward before pulling them back out. The other man dropped dead within seconds; crimson dots turning rapidly into pools on the marble-tiled floor.

All of this while Jean had been forced to watch.

---

Meanwhile, Rogue-Phoenix was still seated with her back straight and her legs crossed on the bed in the isolation room. Her hands were outstretched, but they soon stretched further and turned outward. This was done to strengthen her telepathic hold on the mansion's inhabitants.

"Let them suffer in their idiotic fears. They don't _deserve_ the gratitude they are given….not when they turn and run from fears… Losing control? Death? They've become even more pathetic since I left," she hissed while entwining the X-men into the deadly, nightmarish world in their dreams even further.


	3. “Real World” Frights

**Untouchable Flame 3**

I apologize if the previous chapter was confusing. Hopefully this next chapter will be clearer! The X-men wake from their nightmares and get a momentary breather. But now…where has Gambit been? Another confrontation with Rogue-Phoenix refreshes everyone's minds as to what exactly they're up against…

**Rating: **M – language, heavy violence, some mild adult themes.

**Pairings:** Rogue/Gambit, Scott/Jean, and Logan/Ororo. And of course, there might be some other minor pairs along the way ;)

**Official (complete) Summary:** Phoenix is done with Jean, and done with the X-men. Due to Jean's final, desperate attack to save not only the man she loved, but the entirety of humans and mutants alike, the last thing anyone saw of Phoenix was her dying form fading away on the ground between the humans and mutants during the "war for the cure." Scott has recovered, Jean's body is free of Phoenix, and the "war for the cure" has ended. Rogue's been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what _exactly_ happened to Phoenix.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the X-men franchise in any way. I wish I could be a part of it though! (: That would be spiffy. Oh – this series, along with "Seeing Yet Blind," is meant to take place in the movie-verse, seeing I've read little about the comics. However, what I have added into this series that pertains to the comics (Gambit, for example) I have researched to get at least a basic grip about. Also, Untouchable Flame is set after my other x-men series, "Seeing Yet Blind." It is advised that that-16 chapter series is read before reading this sequel-series.

* * *

**3 – "Real World" Frights**

To each his own, they often say. The four fighters of the X-men team had each been thrown rather forcibly into a haunting world that seemed to magnify their greatest fears. Not only this, but inner demons and desperate pleas ran free in the nightmare-world behind their closed eyes. Logan had been the first to wake from the restless slumber. Consequentially when he woke he extended his claws out of instinct. However, there was no other being in the room with him, and after taking a good look at his surroundings, he found he was still in his own quarters, and he was dressed in the undershirt and pants that he'd worn the night before. His hands and knuckles were clean, and the knife-like claws shimmered proudly.

"'Ro.." he gasped, the intensity of the dream finally hitting him. Logan gripped the covers and thrashed the sheets away as he scrambled to get dressed to an acceptable standard before he staggered out the door. Moments later he appeared at her door and knocked lightly, calling, "Storm…"

However when she did not respond, he nearly crushed the doorknob as he forced it inward. It was no difficulty to him thought; a metal-laced skeleton did have it's advantages. And of course, Ororo was under the covers, sighing lightly as her chest rose and fell rhythmically. The man's expression softened almost instantly and he smiled to her gently. "Thank god," he smirked, feeling extremely foolish that he'd actually thought she'd been in harm.

Although when she sighed deeply and stretched, Logan looked almost frantic to escape, however when he turned his back to her to tip-toe to his escape, she mumbled, "What are you doing here?" It was far from accusatory however it wasn't exactly bright-sun-shiny.

"Just checkin' in on you," he stated. It was the honest truth, however the intensity of his paranoia and the reason behind his "checking on her" he wouldn't reveal willingly.

She propped her self up on her elbows as she smirked, "You? Something's wrong then."

He shook his head, "No…I'm fine."

"Hard night?" she asked quietly, being accidentally reminded of her own dreams.

"You?" he stated back, arching an eyebrow to compliment his smirk.

She sighed uneasily and her eyes shifted away. Her eyelashes swept over her eyes which still held the faintest traces of the line of tears she'd shed during the horrible dream. "Just a dream," she stammered, drawing her knees to her chest.

"You want to let me in on it?" Logan stated, maybe even too quickly.

She looked to him slightly pained, and then she traced one of her eyebrows with her fingertips. "Horrible dream," she simply stated. He drew closer to her and sat on the edge of her bed, trying to meet her eyes that purposely averted his gaze. She drew in a breath but her mouth clamped tightly together again and she shook her head.

He touched her shoulder and whispered gruffly, "I had one too."

She bit her lip and managed, "I was…had..and IV in my arm…the cure…" she paused and a tear fell, "You and Scott came in…you were bleeding…he was blind. You two got my on my feet…then Jean came…then an ass load of guys with guns.." She closed her eyes forcibly, trying to retreat from the recollection of memories.

"Shit…Cyke was blind?" he hissed.

She nodded her head and blinked back the remaining tears fogging her vision.

"I killed you," he stated suddenly, "in mine."

---

Scott stood in the room with his fingers massaging his temples. His jaw was tight, and his opposite hand was curled into an even tighter fist that he would relax only when there was next to complete blood loss in his knuckles. Phoenix watched much like a curious cat as he paced the small space, his footfalls reverberating off of the metal casing jeeringly.

"You wanted to talk to me…?" the woman finally suggested with a voice completely different; it was laced with innocence and curiosity rather than diabolical revenge.

His eyes shifted to her and he scowled. His fist released again, and then he finally struggled to begin with, "What…what are you doing?"

"Sitting," she replied flatly.

"I meant what you are doing _back here_," he improvised his previous statement, his patience beginning growing thin.

"Well it seems I could validly ask you the same question," she replied calmly, her eyes flickering mischievously.

"Don't even," he snarled, more at the glint in her eye rather than at her statement. She smirked back, feeling and knowing very well she had the potential upper-hand. "Phoenix…you have torn too many apart… God only knows what you're doing to Rogue," he stated rather loudly.

"What…did _they_ send _you_? Because you're their _fearless_ leader?" she laughed upon closing. He gritted his teeth causing his grinding jaw to tighten even further; this after being reminded vividly of the horrific dreams that played across his sleep the night before.

"I came myself," he replied. "Do you have anything else up your sleeve I should know about?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Go ahead and say it, Summers. It's not like I can't hear your damn thoughts now," she spat. "You're _afraid_." The voice was lavishing.

He sighed bitterly. "Then why not just read my mind?" he stated as if it was nothing.

"You know…you really are terribly weak for a leader," she stated off-handedly.

He rolled his eyes and stated, "All about me, huh?"

"Don't act like you're got the safety-bubble with me, Summers. Just because I'm out of Jean does not mean shit about my powers lessening or what not. In fact, Rogue's only given me more options," she laughed. "However…being in this body does have a few downsides…" she flicked one of Rogue's white strands of hair between her fingers as she mused, "I can't get near _you_ without 'accidentally' killing you.

"Seems you're still drawing off Jean," he stated quietly with a jump from his eyebrows.

"Am I?" she chuckled and her eyes flashed to the flickering red of his glasses. "Didn't notice..." her voice down-right seductive.

"Oh step off of it," he barked at her. How ever alluring her voice was, he continued to tell himself it was not Jean, and Rogue's feelings for him would never be those of love. Although his thoughts were immediately dashed when her fingers made contact with his shoulder. The touch had been ginger, however it had been surprising enough to make him raise his gaze back to her. Not only did he wear a long sleeved shirt, and traditional to him he rolled the sleeves to three-quarter length, but she too was dressed in covering clothing, including gloves. His mind thought so strongly the thoughts of, _You can't. No matter what you think you cannot settle with us._

_Why not, Scott?_ She mused in his head.

"Phoenix…you can't overshadow Jean or Rogue and expect to have it taken lightly. You can't walk around as them and expect that to be where you stay for the rest of your lifespan," he paused and clasped her shoulders between his hands, shaking her only to the slightest extend. Rogue-Phoenix's fingers fell back slowly to his wrists. "They're people that are loved," he whispered, knowing the jest of what Rogue was feeling, and probably how Remy was feeling quite well.

"Why can't I be loved?" she whispered. Her gloved fingers shifted around his wrists ever so slightly.

"Because of what you've done," he barked. The setting immediately changed.

"Get out then," she snarled. Her nails almost seemed to pierce through the leather of the black gloves. He wrenched his hands away from her and raised an eyebrow while giving an expression that was less than impressed.

"Again, why are you doing this?" he continued to delve, despite Phoenix's projecting rage.

_Because I can_, she shot telepathically. _Your kind don't deserve this freedom…this gratitude.. Feeling you are above others because you are mutants? I think not. I tried to bridle you all with Jean, however she was quite strong… A power I quite fancy… But the girl was terribly strong…forced me out. So I just threatened her with her death…that didn't quite faze her…so I then declared that you would die if she didn't comply with me._

"You're beating around the bush," he muttered.

_Because this world is unstable without me,_ she added loudly. _I am life itself._

"So I've been told," he snapped. "But if you're life, then why is it that you cause so much death?" However, he turned and stormed out of the room, the thick metal door slamming hollowly into place.

---

Upon entering the den of the mansion, Scott found the other X-men waiting for him: Storm, Logan, Jean, and Gambit as well. He was slightly surprised at the last man; no one had really seen the crafty mutant since Phoenix's initial attack on him. However Jean had tracked him down and found him in the garage on this particularly darkening day.

Scott sighed upon entering and remarked unpleasantly, "Well she's still Phoenix, that's for sure."

"Ahh, well let's throw Mystique into this and we've got what we started with," Logan grunted. Scott shot him a death glare. Logan returned by shooting up the middle of the three claws and waving it at the man for a moment. "I'm as pissed as you are, Cyke," he growled afterward.

"Well did you get anything out of her?" Storm inquired. Scott shook his head.

"Scott, I was thinking that it might be a good idea if I took Remy to her… Perhaps he'd be able to draw something from her? Much like you attempted with me…" Jean explained. She herself wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was worth at least attempting. He bit his lip in response, but nodded his head in agreement despite his lurking fears of what Phoenix would do when exposed to Rogue's boyfriend. Remy sat in one of the various chairs in the room, merely watching and listening, but remained silent through it all. Jean signaled for the two of them to go, and the young man struggled to get in the proper mind set.

As the pair were headed towards the infirmary, Scott caught Jean's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "If anything, _anything at all_ starts turning bad, call me." She pulled away and could see the concern that was clearly spelled on his face. However, she was slightly hurt that he didn't trust her to face Phoenix...it's not like she was going alone. Despite that, she nodded in response and turned away again, her crimson hair flailing behind her back as the two made it around the corner.

---

"Well hello, Remy," Phoenix purred ravishingly. She sat at the edge of the bed, one knee folded perfectly over the other while she looked over the man's figure. "You're feeling better, I suppose," she smirked.

They were alone in the solitary room; Remy and Phoenix overshadowing Rogue. His jaw was set rather awkwardly, and he found it hard to speak to the woman at the current time.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"No," he growled. His eyes flickered a deeper shade of red.

Phoenix sighed, waiting with patience running out. Finally she cut in to his thoughts with, "You know I care nothing for you."

_No. That's not true,_ Rogue whispered within her mind, arguing silently with Phoenix.

"No...I prefer the one with the sunglasses," she mused, carefully watching the man's expression. "However..." she leaned forward. her voice dropping to a low volume, "you share many traits with Mr. Summers, no?"

Remy's fist tightened and he gave an uncaring smirk of acknowledgement.

Her own smirk pried deviously at him, and she continued lustfully, "It's because you're a clone. A worthless, rebellious little clone of Mr. Summers." He drew back, anger building within him. "You were a clone, and just happened to escape your master before you were ready. Fortunate you've survived in the wild so long, Mr. LeBeau," she continued.

_You're killing him, _Rogue cried.

"Exactly," Phoenix ended sharply, speaking both to the annoying girl in her conscience, and the man standing before her.

_Stop it_, Rogue begged.

_Never,_ Phoenix shot back, _now shut up and go back to your little corner...go cry some more while the grown-ups do their work._

"The red eyes. The hair. The build. Notice any similarities?" Phoenix stated aloud matter-of-factly. She was pulling on his nerves, and would until he broke.

"I've been told I'm worthless, but never a clone.." he started, but then he glanced at her with a coupling smirk, "..tha's a new one." Within the next two seconds he flashed two cards before her, however they came to a skidding halt just before her face as her lips upturned to a conniving grin. The cards hummed lowly and glowed a vibrant red, and Remy just stared in disbelief. She laughed at him. Without even lifting a hand she'd stopped not only the movement, but the potential explosion of the cards, _days_ after she'd absorbed his mutation.

"Thanks to your girlfriend, and a little modification I helped with, I've got your power, you idiot," she chuckled. "And having a touch of telekinesis helps too," she added. Despite her flaunting, the cards merely fell to the floor and erupted into a small flicker of flames that blew out within the next minute. Rogue's eyes now drifted to the side and over Gambit's shoulder, and then they pulsed brown. She was fighting for control when Phoenix was at the height of her strength.

"Roguie?" Remy breathed, unsure of who or what he was facing.

Tears slipped down her face and her mouth parted slightly. She managed to force her line of sight back to Gambit, and then she rasped, "Help me..."

He dropped to his knees in front of her, and whispered, "Cherie..it 's you..." His eyes desperately searched hers.

"I'm scared," she choked, "she's too strong...I-I can't..." The red was rippling over her corneas again.

"They're tryin' to figure a way to get 'er out, Cherie... And I'll stan' beside you however I can..." he murmured.

Her head hung low, and then she snarled, "Good. Because once I'm out, you'll be the first one I go after." When Rogue lifted her head again, her eyes seemed to be on fire. And without even lifting a finger again, Gambit was forced back until he collided rather abruptly with the steel walls. He staggered to his knees, his consciousness failing him as he struggled to keep from blacking out. The door crashed open in the next moment, Jean standing in the wake.

Phoenix-Rogue rose from the table and mused, "Looks who's come to join the party..."

Jean said nothing in response, but after catching the faintest glimpse of Gambit, who was apparently grasping his head in pain. She instantaneously threw her palm outwards, but Phoenix was two steps ahead, and a league's worth of distance ahead on the power-scale. Using merely her mind and no extended limbs, Phoenix managed to send Jean flying through the main room of the infirmary, and the woman crashed against the floor rather heavily, and she continued to slide across the floor until her back collided with the opposite wall. She cried out weakly from the pain, but managed to regain her balance. Now she sported a rather sore side on which she'd slid on, and a long gash on the same-sided arm. Crimson trickled down her skin, sending a shudder through her body as she felt the liquid detach from her skin and fall to the floor.

"It's time _you_ bow to _me_," Phoenix snarled, her voice strengthening as she thrust a hand towards Jean, causing her knees to give-way beneath her. Again the woman crashed to the floor, a jolt of pain surging up her legs.

"I said, _bow,_" Phoenix spat, forcing her head downwards. However, the red-headed telepath fought her wrath, managing to even out the telekinesis with her own. Finally Phoenix released the hold and flicked her head before murmuring, "Your power isn't worth suffering your attitude." Jean glared at her, realizing that the woman had intended to return to her body at some point.

She swallowed as she called with a tight voice, "Maybe it's time for you to make your leave, then."

"_Maybe_ it's time for you X-men to wake up and see the world as it really is," Phoenix spat in return, her outstretched fingers curling ever so slightly in mid air.

The breath was trapped within Jean's throat as she gagged. The woman threw a hand to her throat, realizing now that Phoenix meant to kill her due to suffocation. Her stomach drew inwards as her chest started into a slight spasm; ever muscle tightened as she failed to draw in breath. And again, Phoenix's fingers curled tighter, Jean choking rather loudly as she did so.

_Scott --_ she begged telepathically. _I…I…_

_Jean?_ he replied, concern in his thoughts.

The connection died between the two of them, signaling her loss of consciousness.

Back in the infirmary, Phoenix-Rogue snapped her hand out of the air just as Jean fell to the floor again. She then tossed her neck to either side, popping the tensed bones and muscles. With a final glance around the room and her destruction, she flicked her hair over her shoulders and mused bitterly, "They'll regret caging me _yet again._" She then made her leave while making sure to step over Jean's unconscious figure in disgust.

* * *

**A/N:** I had read somewhere that Gambit was a clone of Scott...so that's why I put that in there. I'd actually meant to edge it into SYB, but there was just no where to do it. So...if that's not true, then I'm sorry! Don't kill me x) I'm just using my creative freedom.. 


	4. Forlorn Freedom

**Untouchable Flame**

So Phoenix has struck again; Scott and Jean discuss the hectic situation but are interrupted before the two can divulge into their personal feelings. Now that Phoenix has freedom in her grasp…will she escape? Or maybe she'll stick around to mix up mischief..

Bah. Huge hiatus there for a while. I started a RP with a friend and it took a bunch of my time away for a long while. I plan on finishing this series and _After the Fact_ before school starts in mid-August. And I believe that this series will only have...5..chapters? Probably? Enjoy!

**Rating: **M – language, heavy violence, some mild adult themes.

**Pairings:** Rogue/Gambit, Scott/Jean, and Logan/Ororo. And of course, there might be some other minor pairs along the way ;)

**Official (complete) Summary:** Phoenix is done with Jean, and done with the X-men. Due to Jean's final, desperate attack to save not only the man she loved, but the entirety of humans and mutants alike, the last thing anyone saw of Phoenix was her dying form fading away on the ground between the humans and mutants during the "war for the cure." Scott has recovered, Jean's body is free of Phoenix, and the "war for the cure" has ended. Rogue's been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what _exactly_ happened to Phoenix.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the X-men franchise in any way. I wish I could be a part of it though! (: That would be spiffy. Oh – this series, along with "Seeing Yet Blind," is meant to take place in the movie-verse, seeing I've read little about the comics. However, what I have added into this series that pertains to the comics (Gambit, for example) I have researched to get at least a basic grip about. Also, Untouchable Flame is set after my other x-men series, "Seeing Yet Blind." It is advised that that-16 chapter series is read before reading this sequel-series.

* * *

**4 – Forlorn Freedom**

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"-You sure?"

Another nod.

Scott ran a hand over his face and sighed as it trailed to his neck. "Too close for comfort, huh?" he mused.

"Scott…it's okay, really," Jean murmured. Her own neck was terribly sore, but that was due to the crushing force Phoenix-Rogue had just displayed in an attempt to see her death through. "I…I just feel pathetic…I couldn't push her off," she finally admitted dejectedly.

The two were standing alone in the kitchen; Scott's arms crossed over his chest loosely and Jean leaning against the island-counter. After being called to telepathically, Scott, Storm and Logan all rushed off towards the infirmary, hoping desperately nothing had happened. However when they reached the room, they found Jean lying still on the ground not too far away, her consciousness failing her. Gambit was slowly getting his footing back in the solitary room, of which the door was wide open to, but Phoenix was no where to be found.

"She could have killed me…I don't understand why she didn't go ahead and get on with it…" Jean mused, running the scenario over in her head for the twelfth time.

"She's trying to make us suffer," Scott replied bluntly. "Why else?"

This made Jean smile, or at least show a somewhat lighter face, and she chuckled, "Yeah. She just likes you and you consider that alone torture."

"Jean…"

She chuckled and then looked away from him. She knew what Phoenix had done, or at least the main points of what happened. However, she often poked fun at Scott without knowing that it would offhandedly sting him. Finally a sigh slipped through her lips and she mused, "I can't say I know what you're going through, but I'll tell you having her inside me was no joy trip either."

The two glanced up to each other, but Scott broke their connection. "She's dangerous, Jean," he whispered. "If you can't contain her, and I can't either… Heck, I doubt if anyone in this mansion truly can. That's a treat," he concluded. "I can't have that here."

She smirked lightly and then replied, "That's you… Scott Summers, being the leader of the X-men."

"We already went through this episode once," he grimaced, "Jean, I couldn't take it." He extended an arm out to her and opened his mouth again, but words simply wouldn't come, and he ran the hand through his hair before it fell back to his side.

"And that's over and done with," Jean whispered, pushing gently off the counter and taking one step towards him. Her fingertips grazed his arm and she wanted to do something, to tell him something that would get him to move forward, but it seemed they were in a standstill. "I know she's a threat. I know this is a painfully strict situation. I know that, Scott," she breathed, "but there's got to be a way to get Phoenix out of our lives."

He shook his head.

"What?" she whispered, her brow arching slightly, her inquiry gentle. At the same time she'd drawn even closer.

His hand rose silently and edged beneath her shirt, and he muttered, "The scar." Clarification came a moment later, "When she tore out of you. She left that scar… You know what I'm talking about, Jean."

Her eyes fell, almost as if she was holding some sort of guilt. Their hearts had been heavy the day the two had discovered a rather odd "shadow" over Jean's chest plate. Said shadow consequently turned out to be a blurry-edged phoenix-shaped scar. A scar that the telepath would hold forever; Phoenix's mark on Jean, to be used for potential re-entry, as Xavier had explained. Pain hit Jean from all sides all at once, and she isolated herself for nearly an entire day after discovering that she _truly_ wasn't free from Phoenix after all.

Suddenly the two were drawn from their comforting stature to one of alertness due to a sudden startling crash around the corner. Jean's eyes flung to Scott and she asked silently, _You did lock Phoenix back up, right?_

"The door was shut…I thought she was in there already…" his voice hardly audible.

The two of them didn't need to say anything else. Both bolted from the kitchen, Scott leading Jean by hardly anything, when they came across a rather sinister-looking woman, Rogue. A Rogue still sporting Phoenix's glowing aura.

"Rogue…" Scott muttered, shaking his head.

"Scotty, Jeannie," she replied, smirking halfheartedly.

"Don't do this, Phoenix. If you run, you'll only be hurting yourself," Jean lamely lied.

She chuckled and then purred, "Hurting myself…how so? If I run, I've got freedom, and a body that is untouchable."

"You'll burn her out," Scott breathed. "She's not like Jean."

A moment passed and the woman shifted. Rogue-Phoenix mused, "Well I do suppose that is a potential problem…" Her voice dropped, "But as long as I stay in touch with you, I've got nothing to worry about, huh?"

Scott's hand curled into a fist, but he knew he was drawn into this plot of hers as not only a source of entertainment, but a food source as well. Jean interjected, "Phoenix, if you stay, we'll try to find a way to remove you from Rogue's body, and see of getting you a more permanent stature."

Phoenix smirked skeptically and then choked through laughter, "What? You think I'm stupid?" Mentally, _I know what you're planning Jeannie._

Jean slipped backwards again, her head pounding and magnifying the words to a horrifying level. The voice she'd been commanded by for the past several weeks would never fade from her memories. These memories shook her to the core and she had flung hands to the roots of her hair while Scott turned almost instantaneously and asked her what was wrong. Through the gritting pain and the numbing echo in her skull, it took her a fair amount of concentration just to shake her head. However, her eyes flickered for a moment, and she grew quiet again. Scott smiled gently and backed away from her, only to meet a kick thrown from Rogue-Phoenix. He retaliated sharply; a nasty gash ripped shallowly into his arm from the heel of the boot the young woman wore. Jean responded initially out of sheer anger by throwing her hands outward at Phoenix, but the entity turned the attack; Rogue had not to lift but a finger to hurtle Jean's body into Scott's, and thus throwing both heavily to the tiled flooring.

"Don't mess with me," the young woman snarled, her heels snapping loudly on the tile in the hallway as she made her way to the front hall.

Jean lie numb over Scott; mostly out of shock and pain intertwined. His fingers clung to her arms as they lie on the floor, and finally he managed to get one of his knees bent and then he pulled himself to a sitting position with Jean's legs between his arms around her rest of her figure. The man's breath was shallow and quick; apparently neither had seen Rogue's reversal trick coming.

"We have to stop her, Scott…" Jean muttered quickly, pulling away after she realized he was alright. Blood trickled through the arm of his jacket, but it was nothing major for the moment. After jumping to her feet with adrenaline surging through her veins, she threw out a hand for Scott and he took it while helping himself up.

The two had turned to follow the rebellious woman, but the front door had been left gaping open…no Rogue in sight. Jean tossed a mental calling into the air, warning any and all mutants within the building that Phoenix was on the loose, yet _again._

---

The night had fallen again; a time that the mansion had recently learned to fear. It had only been a handful of hours since Phoenix had escaped, taking Rogue's body as the hostage. Jean, Scott, Logan and Ororo had been conversing with the Professor, quickly trying to come up with some sort of battle plan, if needed. But ultimately, it seemed there was no other way of going about the situation at this point. Rogue's 'sacrifice' was certainly not on the list of favored plans, but at this point, the chance of retrieving Phoenix without harming Rogue was becoming slimmer by the minute.

Their options: Murder a friend, a fellow teammate who was honestly innocently dragged into the situation to force Phoenix out and _hope_ to capture the entity. Or, attempt to reason with Phoenix, or use what little telepathic strengths they had to draw Rogue to the surface. The first was heartbreaking, the second was extremely unlikely, and the third presented a potential danger for the telepath(s) involved; if Jean was to connect with Rogue's mind there was an upped chance that Phoenix could slide out into Jean's mind again.

No one could come to terms with one plan or the other, and a slight argument ensued.

Outside, a curious Phoenix perched on the window above Xavier's office, holding the stature of that belonging to an outdoor cat. With a devious smirk she murmured, "Argue amongst yourselves all you want…it only buys me more time."

The moon glistened mysteriously above, and with the passing of a cloud through its milky beam, the woman gazed upward to the white sphere amongst the stars. She honestly had no true plan yet; however something about the way the moon shone and the stars twinkled sparked a devilish idea within her mind. And of course, with Rogue doing little to fight back the entity's overbearing power, she was practically limitless.

"First thing's first…" Phoenix breathed, jumping silently from the shingles into the moon-washed night air. She stopped herself and managed to hover above the ground. "Well…I've got the flying down…" she chuckled, "but that's given." A pause, and then she cocked an eyebrow, "Let's check the flammability…"

Jean's body had been so strong that Phoenix had to worry little of actually harming the hull while inside. Rogue? Much more fragile. However, having the invincible skin made her wonder if it had the added bonus of flammability.

"Didn't she date the ice-demon at one point?" she remarked aloud to no one in particular.

If the plan failed, it would be an easy way to rid the world of one more X-men. She'd just have to make some sudden and not to mention extreme changes in plans. Nevertheless, the conniving woman extended her arms to the sides, and flames ignited in her upwards palms. Her eyes flashed a frightening shade of crimson, and her arms extended higher above her head as she lifted her chin, eyes falling closed all the same. Fire engulfed her slim figure.

A moment passed. And then another.

No pain.

The plan would be in full swing.

"Now…let's get this thing started," she snarled joyfully. At this point, Rogue's figure began to melt to slightly match that of Phoenix's, who looked like Jean initially. Her hair floated in an absent wind; curling around her shoulders and neck while sweeping over her arched back. The white streaks dyed even brighter, and the dark strands fell even darker. Eyes remained aglow, and her skin tone deepened as well. The most drastic change was probably that of her attire; which some how magically turned to that containing only red accentuated by gold.

With transformation full underway, she let her arms fall heavily down. Wings suddenly exploded from her sides, or rather fire dancing in the loose form of wings. With a partial upturn in the corners of her mouth, she hissed, "Come out, come out where ever you aremy friends…" Rogue shot into the still air, and dove at the roof, veering to the side only at the last available moment. While ripping down the side of the mansion, her fire leapt out hungrily and tore through the "inflammable" bricks that composed the mansion. She was setting the place on fire in an attempt to draw attention to herself.


End file.
